SunTrust Park: Is it a home run or are taxpayers being played?

COBB COUNTY, Ga. - Cobb County leaders say revenues from the Braves Stadium are better than expected. But a Channel 2 investigation found the stadium is nowhere near paying for itself.

SunTrust Park is a $600 million stadium paid for with private and public money but some Cobb County residents say there’s too much public money in the deal.

“This is corporate welfare as one of its finest examples,” resident Jim Astuto said.

We met Astuto at a public hearing about new fees for senior citizens. It was a standing-room only crowd. One senior told Commission Chairman Mike Boyce, “All of us are on fixed incomes for the most part.”

The county is looking for ways to fill a $30 million hole in its budget at the same time taxpayer money is funneled into the new stadium.

Another resident asked Boyce, “Why are you Micky-Mousing around with fees rather than dealing with the current $8.5 million problem with the Braves?”

He’s referring to the tax money used each year to pay the stadium debt. For 2018, more than $6.4 million of that will come from property taxes. Rental car fees bring in another $590,000 and a hotel tax is expected to bring in about $1.7 million.